Aboriginal jobs surge
The mining boom is reshaping Aboriginal employment with the potential to start closing the historic gap in the jobs market between indigenous and other Australians.
Fitch downgrades Italy, Spain
Fitch Ratings has downgraded the credit ratings of five eurozone nations, including Spain and Italy, and said they remained vulnerable to further cuts in the next two years.
Treasurer defends car handouts
Treasurer Wayne Swan is rejecting arguments that the government is using the high dollar as a scapegoat for car industry job losses and low productivity.
Thomson inquiry focuses on trio
The minority federal government will head back to Parliament under the cloud of an investigation into the finances of the HSU which is considering making adverse findings against three individuals.
Carbon price no problem
The federal government’s former climate change adviser Ross Garnaut has dismissed concerns the price of carbon in Australia will be too high.
Late buying helps Wall Street finish flat
US stocks trimmed losses to end little changed on Friday, as investors saw dips in the market as an opportunity to buy into what has been a strong first month of 2012.
Facebook to file IPO papers within days: WSJ
Updated | Facebook is preparing to file the paperwork for an initial public offering of shares to raise as much as $US10 billion, perhaps as early as Wednesday, a report says.
Call for overhaul of Queensland’s planning laws
Leading company chairman Graham Bradley has called on the Bligh government to streamline approvals for mining projects to ensure Queensland makes the most of the resources boom.
Gold Coast super auction to test water
Australia’s biggest auction takes place this weekend in one of the nation’s hardest-hit markets.
Independents want priority in gas probe
New assessments of how coal and coal seam gas projects affect water reserves should also consider activities such as timber plantations.
What Kloppers knows
Cyber attacks against businesses are becoming more prevalent and it is time CEOs and board members started taking more responsibility.
US Republican debate gets personal
Mitt Romney relentlessly pressed rival Newt Gingrich in their final debate before the Florida primary, seeking to regain the offensive against an insurgent who threatens to upset his frontrunner status.
Mr 58 per cent
As an independent, Evergreen Capital is free to benefit from both share price rises and falls.
Take control: it’s your super
If you want to make your money work as hard as you do, learn to understand your super fund and its investment options so you know why and when to change them.
Back door swings wide open
The long-term hibernation of the initial public offering market in Australia is likely to lead to greater use of back-door listings as well as increased complexity in the structuring of merger and acquisition deals.
Waiting for the call
A sharemarket that is not going anywhere plus a new generation of investors who prefer to get it from the internet are threatening the life of the full service broking companies.
The politics of the deal
How did small Australian explorer Nexus Energy find itself launched into one of the biggest of the big-time underwater drilling ventures?
New risks in the labour market
Alan Mitchell - The inflation and the labour market outlook in Australia has changed dramatically in the past few months.
Majors soar while index struggles
Last call - Since mid-2005 the four major banks, along with BHP and Rio have all reported an increase – some by a record margin – in their bottom line.
Do as Cameron says, not as he does
Market monitor - Following David Cameron’s advice to Germany I’m expecting him to start winding back his fiscal sustainability push.
Fed still has tricks left up its sleeve
Bassanese - It’s no wonder that many United States Republican politicians hate Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
EU oil embargo draws line in Iranian sand
Europe declared war on Iran this past week using what is perhaps the last best weapon in its arsenal – an oil embargo.
Galileo’s lesson for our teachers
Capital idea - How would Galileo have gone in the national literacy and numeracy tests for Australian students known as NAPLAN?
American banks try to pass the buck
What’s on Wall Street’s mind right now? Listen to any US banker lately and it sounds like regulation is killing them. But look at the evidence.
Striving for a better indigenous future
Editorial | The sight of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott being hustled away by their security people was not the image that we wanted to project.
Fears Gillard has done her dash
The pictures of Australia’s Prime Minister cowering in the arms of a security officer as she fled a pursuing mob will be a lasting one.
Pegasus may be next winner for Perth geologist
Luke Forrestal - Michael Fotios is fast becoming known as the man to follow among the Perth elite wanting to gamble on the resources sector.
The Financial Review is on Facebook
Discuss the latest in local and international economic, business, markets and political news with Financial Review readers on Facebook.
Boom year will help bring out Aussie stars
Men’s tennis is in for a bonanza year as the big four battle for grand slams and Olympic gold, says John Newcombe.
Principal opera role for Mazda
Opera Australia has convinced long-time partner Mazda to step up to principal status for the next three years.
The ants that ate my car
I barely noticed them. The tiny black ants marching across the dashboard were hard to see, hard to object to.
Heard the one about the pub?
Aussie walks into a bar… stupid bloke, forgot his glasses. Horse walks into a bar. Barman says: “Why the long face?”
Rather Greens of all hues than a blacklisting
Movements that were once inclusive but turn exclusive are generally movements in trouble.
Fix your eyes on new horizons
Given the changing prospects, a smart investment may be to swap where the developed and developing markets sit in the conventional core-plus-satellite portfolio.
Resources Daily
The politics of the deal
How did small Australian explorer Nexus Energy find itself launched into one of the biggest of the big-time underwater drilling ventures?
- Independents want priority in gas probe
- Tinkler plan for Newcastle to be denied
- China keenly eyeing Browse gas
- Coal price storm alert
- QR in bid for rail link
- Rio Tinto moves on Ivanhoe
- Mining finding jobs for indigenous workers
- Rio reserves right to take over Mongolian mine
- Managers picked for Mighty River deal
The unhappiest ship in the ASX fleet
If there is a competition for the unhappiest ship in the ASX fleet, Pierpont will nominate Altius Mining for the title.
DealBook
How FLSmidth courted Ludowici
This week saw Danish world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki bow out of the Australian Open, but another Danish force, the engineering group FLSmidth, hoped it delivered an ace with its bid for Australia’s Ludowici Limited.
No method in magic circle merger mania
Opinion | The reason that global law firm monsters are setting up shop in Australia is simply that everyone else is doing the same thing, writes Michael Bradley.
Business
China keenly eyeing Browse gas
Chinese oil companies are lining up to make a $10 billion commitment to Woodside Petroleum’s massive Browse liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia, despite the uncertainty hanging over the venture’s development.
National
Film | Chekhov in Hawaiian shirts
The Descendants is a low-key film about human relationships that could have toppled into sentimentality with only the smallest nudge from director Alexander Payne.
Film | Clean but not squeaky
Mark Wahlberg’s transformation from party animal to family man is complete – the father of four laments staying out until 9.30pm.
Newman faces difficult slog
The real battle in this year’s Queensland election started in Ashgrove on Thursday where first-time state candidate Campbell Newman defended himself against suggestions he would pork barrel the key electorate.
World
Gingrich runs into party establishment
Newt Gingrich is on a roll: “Ladies and gentleman,” announces his warm-up man, a retired army ranger, “please welcome the next commander-in-chief of the United States of America”.
US issues subpoenas to 11 firms in RMBS review
The US Justice Department issued civil subpoenas to 11 financial institutions as part of a new effort to investigate misconduct in the sale of home loans to investors, the attorney general said on Friday.
Japanese hit by first trade deficit in 32 years
Japan’s pride in its export sector has suffered a dent after trade figures for 2011 revealed that a collapse in sales to Europe coupled with the after-effects of the tsunami on the east coast created the country’s first deficit in 32 years.
Markets
Take control: it’s your super
If you want to make your money work as hard as you do, learn to understand your super fund and its investment options so you know why and when to change them.
- Mr 58 per cent
- Fix your eyes on new horizons
- New risks in the labour market
- Waiting for the call, but the news may not be good
- Hacking now stock-in-trade
- What Kloppers knows
- Dunstan | Flowing cash tap buoys market sentiment
- Governments grab the jackpot: gaming chiefs
- Wasiliev | Offsets key in DIY wind-up
Coca-Cola puts some zest in capital markets
CBA’s and Westpac’s $6.6 billion in covered bonds have been the focus of the capital markets over the last two weeks, but the big banks are not the only ones to diversify their funding sources
Property
Facelift for FKP’s retirement unit model
FKP Property Group’s chief executive Peter Brown has already picked where he’ll live when he retires.
- Centro Retail accelerates sales country-wide
- Chinese giant leads office tower investment drive
- Brogden named new Landcom boss
- Motion to keep out Sunland
- Lang Walker mulls industrial property sale
- Housing gloom starts to lift
- Stabilisation some reason for cheer
- Office landlords stymied by banking cutbacks
- Perth rents sting social sector
Housing a blight on US economy
It took about 40 minutes of questioning from Washington’s financial journalists this week before Ben Bernanke was asked about the cancer at the heart of the US economy.
Personal finance
Award default funds under scrutiny
A quarter of the most prominent superannuation schemes in the industrial awards system have underperformed the industry average over the past seven years, putting pressure on the Productivity Commission to recommend the introduction of criteria for the selection of default funds.
- S&P warns on covered bond costs
- Deluge puts insurers to the test
- ASIC: Just 3pc of financial plans good for clients
- OzForex formula is on the money
- 25,000 financial advice jobs at risk, AMP warns
- Odds shorten for RBA rate cut next month
- Industry super funds outshine their rivals
- CBA cost-cutter to run Bankwest
- FoFA will add to costs say funds, advisers
Position yourself to weather storms
In this uncertain environment the prudent investor is seeking insulation from volatility.
Technology
Smartphone sales swell Samsung profits
Samsung Electronics reported a 17 per cent jump in fourth quarter profit on the strength of smartphone sales even as the company battled claims it had copied Apple’s iPhone.
- Two Megaupload accused granted bail
- Android grabs tablet market share
- Government’s $5 billion ICT spend set to fall
- Motorola posts loss as Google takeover looms
- Nokia swings to €1bn quarterly loss
- Data#3 flags lower profit
- Facebook flotation speculation soars
- Analysts rush to raise price targets
- Westpac, Suncorp poised to slash jobs
Early signs positive for partners
Will March mark the beginning of a revival for the once-almighty Nokia?
Marketing & Media
Star rises for News’ Mr Fixit
Last August, as News Corp scrambled to contain a phone-hacking scandal at its British newspaper unit, Chase Carey, the company’s president and chief operating officer, proposed an idea to his boss Rupert Murdoch: buy back $US5 billion of stock
- Ad spend boosts hopes of 2012 uptick
- I didn’t threaten to ‘destroy’ News: ex PM
- Foxtel-Austar deal could face setback
- CBA cans loan ads
- Retail blues a black note for advertising
- Ten rejigs, again, to reclaim 5pm timeslot
- News Corp names new general counsel
- New Ten boss makes his mark
- Former Murdoch editor hired by rival NY tabloid
DSK's wife launches Le Huffington Post
Anne Sinclair has stepped back into the spotlight, this time with Le Huffington Post, the made-in-France version of the news website
Lifestyle
Swish watches on the money
Financial Review watch editor reports from the year’s first fair in Geneva.
Carbon copy of a savage beast
The Lexus LFA is a limited-run terror or a glimpse of a roaring supercar to come.
